EPISODE SUMMARY
Prospecting is one of the cornerstones of outbound sales in the software world. Due to a variety of factors, mistakes happen during this crucial process which usually means a critical blow on lead generation itself. And so founders ask how prospecting should be performed to prevent lead attrition.
In this episode of Scale Your SaaS, Truebase Founder, and CEO Wissam Tabbara touches on the common mistakes that occur during the lead generation process with host and B2B SaaS sales coach Matt Wolach. He also enumerates the factors of successful prospecting. Follow Tabbara’s tips to make the most out of your leads!
PODCAST-AT-A-GLANCE
Podcast: Scale Your SaaS with Matt Wolach
Episode: Episode No. 268, “Prospecting Mistakes that Hurt Lead Gen – wish Wissam Tabbara”
Host: Matt Wolach, a B2B SaaS sales coach, Entrepreneur, and Investor
Guest: Wissam Tabbara, Founder & CEO at Truebase
TOP TIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
Be Thorough in Defining your ICP
One of the first things SaaS salespeople learn about the field is the concept of an Ideal Client Profile (ICP). The usual understanding of ICP is a single profile of the best possible client for the product. The problem lies here because regardless of your company size, you will likely have more than one ICP.
Tabbara elaborates further that ICPs are constantly changing, which is why it is a ‘moving target.’ This means that software companies should ensure that they are redefining their ICPs after each marketing campaign. It is important to note that this is a feedback loop because an adjustment in ICP would entail an adjustment in the campaign itself.
Have a Long-term Process for Nurturing Leads
A lesser-known blind spot of software businesses during prospecting is the lack of process for generating leads that are not ready to buy the product yet. Tabbara explains that, realistically, only 7% of the prospectsare ready to purchase the product when the sales team finds them.
Without a long-term process for nurturing leads, potentially good prospects are leaking out of the funnel. Just because they are not ready to buy now does not mean they will never be. This is especially important if the lead matches the ICP because there is a high chance they will convert immediately once they have the necessary funding.
Build the Right Culture
Culture can make or break a business. According to Tabbara, the biggest mistake that startups can commit is the failure to build the right culture. He explains that this is caused by the hustle mindset common among software startup founders. Usually, startups immediately work on high-leveraging tasks like product development and sales.
Tabbara advises founders to take a step back at the beginning of their startup and just focus on the company’s values. He stresses that this is critical because the values will impact the company long-term. After all, the company’s culture impacts product development and employee recruitment decisions.
Keep your Solutions Flexible
One of the most critical aspects of marketing is having a solid company vision and a set of clear objectives for the product. However, software founders have to be careful of becoming too stuck with their image for the product. Otherwise, the solution will become rigid.
The essence of SaaS is rooted in technology. In other words, innovation. This means that the available products and services in the market will constantly be transforming. This also entails that solutions have to be flexible and ready to adjust to whatever new market disruption will grace Wall Street. Tabbara mentioned how Truebase had to pivot thrice to be where it is today.
Perform a Prioritization Exercise to Test Product Assumptions
Software founders instinctively come up with around ten ideas that they want to test individually in order to find product market fit. While coming from a place of good intentions, Tabbara explains that this is a folly because time and resources are limited. Instead, he recommends founders to do a prioritization exercise.
Conducting a prioritization exercise can be likened to auditing your product ideas starting by listing them all down. Once you’ve got the ideas in a spreadsheet, label the ideas in terms of risk and effort. Tabbara states that the best ideas to execute are those with the highest risk and lowest effort. This way, the company will be ‘covering more ground at the early stage.’
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
SDR has a High Turnover Rate
Despite being a crucial role in business growth, an SDR (Sales Development Representitive) is considered an entry-level job. This means that employees tend to last for only over a year. There is less time for an employee to understand the ICP properly, so demos tend to be of lower quality for companies that outsource sales.
Each Startup is Unique
Handling a SaaS startup only gets easier the second time around, contrary to widespread expectations. Tabbara points out that each startup is different from the other. This means that the next startup will have a new set of problems requiring significant effort, just like the initial startup.
The SaaS Industry is Constantly Evolving
Part of the reason why leading a SaaS startup will never be the same is due to the nature of the industry itself. Tabbara explains that there are always changes occurring in the field of SaaS ranging from technological advancements to new consumer patterns. He also notes that even your ICP is ‘continuously growing.’
TOP QUOTES
Wissam Tabbara
[06:10] “The inbound, a separate process, is more a marketing effort. It’s a one-to-many conversation you can have.”
[10:15] “It’s a moving target, right? Because you’re running campaigns and your ICP is also continuously growing, right? So how can you really define that at scale? That’s actually sometimes a big part of the battle.”
[12:47] “Each startup is a different beast.”
Matt Wolach
[16:43] “I’ve kind of long-held the contention that, too many times, founders focus too much on product and don’t start marketing early enough, don’t start that– that go to market when they should.”
LEARN MORE
To learn more about Truebase, visit:
You can also find Wissam Tabbara on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wissamtabbara/
For more about how host Matt Wolach helps software companies achieve maximum growth, visit https://mattwolach.com/
